Welcome to my latest trip report!
Dates: 9-13 March 2026
Where: Cabins at Fort Wilderness using DVC points
People:
I’m going to break this into a trip report that covers the actual trip, and one that focuses on the DVC cabin elements. I’ll load the 2nd part into the DVC trip report page, since that seems to be mostly interesting to DVC members. Here's the link.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/5-days-at-fort-wilderness-cabins.3980127/
But all of the trip details are going to be here. Are you ready? Here goes!
Day 1, March 9th
Our initial day had DM and I driving over from Tampa early in the morning, while DS and his family were driving down from Georgia after he reported in for morning muster. For those not familiar with the military, their vacation (or leave) works a little differently. They get charged for the weekend days unless they report for muster Monday and Friday. Because they have a lot of short trips scheduled, DS is conserving leave, and since his family are NOT early risers, they agreed that he would go into work Monday morning, then leave after muster. He was also going to return Thursday night, leaving the rest of the family to return with me over the weekend. That meant that instead of 9 days of leave, he would only have to take 3.
DM and I were awake fairly early, and after a stop by Wawa for coffee and breakfast, we were on the road by 7:30. We did hit some traffic on I-4, which turned a 75 minute drive into a 2 hour drive. But we were at Fort Wilderness by 9:20, and dropped off our cooler bag with bell services before heading to Hollywood Studios. Once inside the park, we could tell it was going to be a crowded day because all the wait times were fairly long. So at 9:50, we chose to head to the first villians show of the day (10:30), since that was on our “must-do” list for this trip. I did get a few photopass shots while we were waiting, then we were seated in the very front with Mom’s wheelchair. DDIL and I texted while waiting on the show to start, and she said that they were still waiting for my son to be released from duty, and we agreed that due to the crowds, we would adjust to a different park for the day.
Mom and I really enjoyed the show, and got some good pictures since we were close. But the location was a bit TOO close to actually get the whole experience. Captain Hook won our show, and very energetically sang his victory song! Pics below.
Once done, DM and I decided to switch to Magic Kingdom, because their lines were fairly reasonable. So we drove back to Fort Wilderness, planning to park the car by the boat dock and transfer over by ferry boat. This was our first experience with Fort Wilderness transportation challenges (detailed further in the DVC trip report section). Let’s leave it by saying that there is no general parking anywhere in Fort Wilderness. You either park at your campsite/cabin or up at the very front and take resort internal transportation to all locations. Thankfully, we got the text saying our cabin was ready at 11:20, so we parked in front of 2701, our home for the week. We settled in, getting our cooler bag and grabbing a quick sandwich in the room. A few pictures of the room below.
We then went out to get the internal bus to the ferry boat, leaving the cabin at 12:45. By this time, DS’s family was on their way, and planned to go straight to the cabin on arrival. DDIL’s mom and brother (who live in Melbourne, about an hour from WDW) were at Animal Kingdom, so we planned to meet up with them later. Although the bus to ferry transfer seemed to take a long time, we were in MK by about 2pm, and headed straight to Small World, which was Mom’s choice. With Mom’s wheelchair, we enter this ride at the exit and transfer to the boat opposite the normal line. During our ride, we had a really cute family behind us. They were trying to guess what country all the dolls were from in each room. Once we got to the last all white room, the little girl just couldn’t figure it out, so I turned around and told her it was all of the countries, just wearing white to show that it really was a small world. She told her mom, who said “Oh, you are right! You’re so smart!” and the little girl giggled and said, “no, that lady told me!”
Once off small world, the parade crowds were building at 2:30. Mom didn’t want to see it, and asked to go to Country Bears Jamboree, so we wove our way along the pathway. For those people who grumble about being asked to keep a walkway clear, realize that weaving a wheelchair through a narrow path is super challenging! There was one family laying flat out on the sidewalk, with all of their souvenirs spread out who were particularly annoyed about being asked to make way!
The new Country Bears is a cute little show, with all the music Disney themed. We exited right as the parade was starting, and wove the rest of the way down the clear walkway to the Dole Whip stand across from Aladdin’s Carpets. This was the longest line I’ve ever seen for Dole Whip! It was doubled back, and ended at the cross over to FronteirLand, taking about 15 minutes to order. The family was at the cabin, so we headed out to meet them, getting on the boat at 3:40. Our return was faster and we were in the cabin by 4:10.
Up next: Dinner off-property followed by an evening at EPCOT including late EMH.
Dates: 9-13 March 2026
Where: Cabins at Fort Wilderness using DVC points
People:
- Me, Lisa. Age 61, retired federal employee. I live in Tampa, am a DVC owner (SSR and HH), a long time Disney Annual Passholder.
- DM, my mom Helen, age 88, retired nurse. She lives two hours south of Tampa, and enjoys a more sedate Disney experience. She’s a heart patient, and uses either a scooter or a wheelchair because she can only walk about 25 yards without stopping.
- DS2, my son Casey, age 32, active duty navy sonarman, currently on a shore duty assignment in King’s Bay GA (just north of Jacksonville)
- DDIL, Casey’s wife Kay, age 35, stay at home mom who homeschools the kids and manages a challenging household. She (and my son) are former college program cast members.
- DGD, Ely, who turns 10 just after the trip. This was her birthday celebration. Ely was literally born at Celebration Hospital, and still loves Disney although she’s moved on from the characters. She’s into fantasy (dragons and mermaids are high on her lists) as well as Greek mythology, and loves theater.
- DGS Cayden, age 5. Cayden is autistic, and we are only able to do Disney with the use of Disability Assistance Support (DAS). He’s a super sweet kid, who really loves his Grammy (that’s me) and GiGi (my mom).
I’m going to break this into a trip report that covers the actual trip, and one that focuses on the DVC cabin elements. I’ll load the 2nd part into the DVC trip report page, since that seems to be mostly interesting to DVC members. Here's the link.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/5-days-at-fort-wilderness-cabins.3980127/
But all of the trip details are going to be here. Are you ready? Here goes!
Day 1, March 9th
Our initial day had DM and I driving over from Tampa early in the morning, while DS and his family were driving down from Georgia after he reported in for morning muster. For those not familiar with the military, their vacation (or leave) works a little differently. They get charged for the weekend days unless they report for muster Monday and Friday. Because they have a lot of short trips scheduled, DS is conserving leave, and since his family are NOT early risers, they agreed that he would go into work Monday morning, then leave after muster. He was also going to return Thursday night, leaving the rest of the family to return with me over the weekend. That meant that instead of 9 days of leave, he would only have to take 3.
DM and I were awake fairly early, and after a stop by Wawa for coffee and breakfast, we were on the road by 7:30. We did hit some traffic on I-4, which turned a 75 minute drive into a 2 hour drive. But we were at Fort Wilderness by 9:20, and dropped off our cooler bag with bell services before heading to Hollywood Studios. Once inside the park, we could tell it was going to be a crowded day because all the wait times were fairly long. So at 9:50, we chose to head to the first villians show of the day (10:30), since that was on our “must-do” list for this trip. I did get a few photopass shots while we were waiting, then we were seated in the very front with Mom’s wheelchair. DDIL and I texted while waiting on the show to start, and she said that they were still waiting for my son to be released from duty, and we agreed that due to the crowds, we would adjust to a different park for the day.
Mom and I really enjoyed the show, and got some good pictures since we were close. But the location was a bit TOO close to actually get the whole experience. Captain Hook won our show, and very energetically sang his victory song! Pics below.
Once done, DM and I decided to switch to Magic Kingdom, because their lines were fairly reasonable. So we drove back to Fort Wilderness, planning to park the car by the boat dock and transfer over by ferry boat. This was our first experience with Fort Wilderness transportation challenges (detailed further in the DVC trip report section). Let’s leave it by saying that there is no general parking anywhere in Fort Wilderness. You either park at your campsite/cabin or up at the very front and take resort internal transportation to all locations. Thankfully, we got the text saying our cabin was ready at 11:20, so we parked in front of 2701, our home for the week. We settled in, getting our cooler bag and grabbing a quick sandwich in the room. A few pictures of the room below.
We then went out to get the internal bus to the ferry boat, leaving the cabin at 12:45. By this time, DS’s family was on their way, and planned to go straight to the cabin on arrival. DDIL’s mom and brother (who live in Melbourne, about an hour from WDW) were at Animal Kingdom, so we planned to meet up with them later. Although the bus to ferry transfer seemed to take a long time, we were in MK by about 2pm, and headed straight to Small World, which was Mom’s choice. With Mom’s wheelchair, we enter this ride at the exit and transfer to the boat opposite the normal line. During our ride, we had a really cute family behind us. They were trying to guess what country all the dolls were from in each room. Once we got to the last all white room, the little girl just couldn’t figure it out, so I turned around and told her it was all of the countries, just wearing white to show that it really was a small world. She told her mom, who said “Oh, you are right! You’re so smart!” and the little girl giggled and said, “no, that lady told me!”
Once off small world, the parade crowds were building at 2:30. Mom didn’t want to see it, and asked to go to Country Bears Jamboree, so we wove our way along the pathway. For those people who grumble about being asked to keep a walkway clear, realize that weaving a wheelchair through a narrow path is super challenging! There was one family laying flat out on the sidewalk, with all of their souvenirs spread out who were particularly annoyed about being asked to make way!
The new Country Bears is a cute little show, with all the music Disney themed. We exited right as the parade was starting, and wove the rest of the way down the clear walkway to the Dole Whip stand across from Aladdin’s Carpets. This was the longest line I’ve ever seen for Dole Whip! It was doubled back, and ended at the cross over to FronteirLand, taking about 15 minutes to order. The family was at the cabin, so we headed out to meet them, getting on the boat at 3:40. Our return was faster and we were in the cabin by 4:10.
Up next: Dinner off-property followed by an evening at EPCOT including late EMH.
